[PLUG] Buying a used laptop - questions

[Richard Owlett]

Richard C. Steffens wrote:
> On 11/19/2011 03:09 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:
>> I'm attempting to move to Linux. As I've had some near
>> disasters with attempting to have Linux coexist with Windows
>> and there is no physically nearby Linux support (rural SW
>> MO), I will purchase a used laptop for a test bed that will
>> be a pure Linux machine - probably with multiple distros on it.
>>
>> The local used computer store seems to have a assortment of
>> Dell, Toshiba, and Acer. Any gotcha's to watch for?
>
> A couple of months back I finally upgraded the memory and hard disk on
> my Acer Aspire 1640z laptop which I bought new back in 2006 -- I think.
> I have it running as a dual boot machine with WinXP and Ubuntu 10.04.
> While I can't say anything about the dial-up modem,

I've a Live CD of Ubuntu 10.10 and found it doesn't include
dial up out of the box. I'm given to understand that it is
in repository. For my philosophy that creates a serious
down-check.


>  I can say that
> Ubuntu handles all the rest of the hardware very well. Wireless worked
> out of the box, and it appears to be happy with the power related
> aspects of the hardware, too. I can close the lid on the running
> machine, come back later, open the lid, push the power button, feed it
> my password and be right back where I was when I closed the lid. I can't
> speak for how long the battery will last under that condition because I
> usually leave it plugged in.
>